Healthy Grief

Grieving My Own Mortality

Grief is a strange human emotion. No one can tell beforehand how s/he is going to react to the death of a friend or loved one. In some cases we may be surprised how deeply affected we are by a person's death.

Although grief is a unique and intensely personal emotion, there are universal features ofit that help us to see how to grieve in a healthy way. It takes one of two forms -

• GRIEVING MY OWN MORTALITY & prospect of my own death• GRIEVING THE DEATH OF A LOVED ONEor someone else.

Many modern translations of JOHN Chapter 11 verse 26 read: "and whoever lives and believes in me will never die", which is patently untrue. We all die. And Jesus did not say that.

The Greek Text of JOHN 11:26

The Greek actually reads: "and whoever lives and believes in me will not die for ever."
Older versions like the KJV translate this as: "will not perish". In other words, Jesus is talking about eternal life and resurrection from the dead.

A Pattern In The Attitudes Of Patients Who Are Dying

Research into the attitude of patients who were dying has shown a pattern in the way people view their own impending death.

This pattern is characterised by the following features -

• DENIAL when I deny that it's happening to me
• ANGER at my life being snuffed out when I've got so much left to do
• BARGAINING trying to prolong my life by bargaining with God and others
• DEPRESSION when the reality of my impending death finally hits me
• ACCEPTANCE when I realise death is an essential part of life & the gateway to eternal life